Soul Less
by Warfang
Summary: My take on how Ciel is still alive for the second season. And on how the characters seem to have changed over the season. Done because the plot bunnies set up camp in my frontal lobe. Besides, I can't wait to see how author Yana Toboso explains that one.


I do not own. If I did, Ciel would be the reincarnation of the king of hell. You may skip the next bit, all it asks is that you tell me if the characters are OOC.

Also, I have only one other person who has ever seen six episodes of Kuroshitsuji, and since they could not watch nor read the series, as the creator of Kuroshitsuji left severe blinding errors and gaps in the series that are confusing (I suggested that they try reading the difference between the two, but this was an anime inflicted disgust with the series, so I doubt that they will read the manga), tell me if they are OOC. I mean, I can see what all is just wrong with the series, which is why I like the first four of the second series, they are much more realistic and flow together much better. And no flames about bashing the series. It is mediocre (please, those fight scenes with Pluto?), but also funny, especially when you have a very broad sense of manga.

Which would explain the second season of Kuroshitsuji, called Monoshitsuji, although no one seem to call it that, since the opening title itself is Kuroshitsuji II.

No further ado, let the STORY BEGIN.

Ciel stared at Sebastian in incredulity. "You…ate my soul?"

The warm spring air that filtered into the study, carrying the floating notes of bird songs and snatches of Finnian's musing to the plants belied the sense of confusion that weighted the atmosphere between master and servant. Or, as Ciel began to think, human and demon. Prey and predator.

"Yes, bochan."

Sebastian regarded Ciel calmly, noting the guards that Ciel had dropped over his face as he began to panic, then stopped, beginning to systematically eliminate the process of what had happened to him recently.

"But, how am I still alive?"

Sebastian repressed a grin. His bochan was so smart, that despite the question usually being one of self-preservation, was actually serving to aid Ciel in deducing how the soul eating demon and he could exist in the same room.

"You survived, bochan."

"Explain."

"You were mostly dead. But before the fire, I abandoned you, if you will recall. Your soul was no longer the one that I wished to devour. You had begun to grow a new soul."

"WHAT?"

Ciel's voice thundered over the grounds, causing Finny to look up, before deciding that the plants below Ciel's study were just fine, and the gazebo far away from the mansion needed tending.

"Please do not interrupt, young master. As you must know, all humans are born impure, which is why they are baptized. Why their parents raise them in a loving, kind manner, so that they will learn the same. A human soul is not a fixed amount of soul in that case. Humans are, after all, constantly changing." _You give away your souls so carelessly to whatever holds meaning to you, to what you are made up of. Just as you do not notice the earth move round as you move with it, so too do you give yourselves away._

_And just as the clouds moving show the signs of the wind that come from the spinning earth, you would see the changes that come about around you. _

Ciel looked at Sebastian. "If I had stayed in that 'state of mind', what would have happened to the contract?"

"The contract would have held. I would have waited for your captors to die, or at that point, waited for the Queen to die, and then eaten what was remaining of the soul promised to me. You would have continued to live."…_and I would have had to leave you._

"But I am alive, you did eat my soul, and now parts of my memory-"

"Hush, young master. I am getting to that. I did eat you, but the soul you had promised me had become dominant. The nourishment I had denied myself for so long restored my arm, and even satisfied me for months. But I could not leave you. I had promised you my service until you died, and you were not dead. I do believe that contractors call this a 'loophole'."

Sebastian paused here, pouring Ciel tea and handing him the cup back. Gracious, the brat's taste for sweets did not diminish even when he was the subject of the conversation, and with a demon, no less.

"The bullet had gone through, and the blood clotted. You even had a symbolic ring on your finger, the one you scooped up from the river. The latent soul you had, that of a kind, forgiving master, remained after I had devoured the one in existence when the contract formed. Usually in those circumstances, the human is so focused and driven that they do not pause to think, to expand their horizons, to develop and continue to grow. They think only of revenge, their transgressors never far from mind, stopping any change for the soul for the better as they become fixated."

Sebastian mused quietly for a moment. "Your loyalty to the Queen, to your parents and their kindness awakened what I believed you would have become. A happy, kind young gentleman who would be too smart for the politics and entrapments of others."

Sebastian crossed over to the window, closing the glass pane before a bird could enter the room. It would not do for his bochan to see him leaping around to catch the bird, or his eyes never leaving the feathers.

He had lost his sense of how a butler behaved in front of the servants two years ago, when he had caught some mice. And recently, he was thankful for how adoring Ciel was of Elizabeth, for some pigeons had escaped the picnic basket before he caught all of them, just as a cat did. If Ciel knew he was a cat, he could throw him out. As though Ash calling him 'featherless' had not been enough of a hint….

Sebastian wrenched his mind back to the present. Contemplation of how shaky their relationship had become disturbed him. He was here, present, and he served his bochan. Ciel would never replace him. Contract or no contract. He was one hell of a butler.

"I nursed you back to health. The others believed that you were in a coma from smoke inhalation, considering the fire, and I could take you wherever with me in search of doctors."

"But in reality, you were looking for what would wake me from a coma." Ciel handed the empty tea cup back to his butler, and accepted a third.

"Yes. The ring you had given to the sailor was quite easy to track down, but he had hidden the ring had gone into a tea canister of 'New Moon Drop' and shipped the ring out. He must have been mailing the ring back home to sell from there, as accepting bribes or stealing from passengers is frowned upon. Alas, the ring had not gone to his address. I had to find the house where the ring had gone and retrieve it. I could not leave you alone, so I brought you with me. After all, you had said that the ring had witnessed the death of all of the Phantomhives, and would witness your death as well. In fact, I suspect that you subconsciously refused to die without that ring."

Ciel laughed softly into his tea. "You are right. I have not been troubled by my thoughts since my revenge, and Elizabeth sees that I am more troubled by work and easier to reach since the fire."

Sebastian bowed, and left as Ciel waved him away so he could ponder the new information.

Outside the door, Sebastian sighed. He would not tell Ciel that he suspected that at the time of feeding from him, Sebastian had noticed that three souls occupied the young master. One soul of revenge, one soul of kindness, and one newly formed soul of resolve. The kindness to his servants and Elizabeth, and the resolve to continue pulsed strongly within Ciel.

But even Sebastian did not know why parts of Ciel's memory were missing; only that he had failed to correct Ciel about the circumstances of Madame Red himself. Sebastian resolved to question the Undertaker, as a retired shinigami who could be bought for laughs, he should at least have some information.

He had, after all, recognized Grell Sutcliff, so why had he remained silent? Did he not wish to see his bochan sad? _Absurd. The death of Madame Red would have been received stoically, just as he had the first time, and grieved._ Ah, but was Ciel the same? The same arrogance, but now he had a gentler feel to him. _Perhaps I am scared of finding my bochan so changed from eating the soul I was promised. If he is not the same, why would I continue to serve him?_

Sebastian stalled the cart as he checked the time. He smiled softly. Bochan had wanted stew for dinner tonight, or at least the socialite equivalent of stew, so that he could drink ice water in the calm evening air. Sebastian stilled, reaching up a hand and feeling the smile on his mouth. _Oh, dear._ Where had his smirk gone to? Shoving the matters into a mental folder labeled 'To Deal With' Sebastian headed on down to the kitchen.

Inside the study, Ciel gazed forlornly at the tea cup. How he wished he could hurl the cup across the lawn! Sebastian appeared unaware of himself, of how gentle he now portrayed his role of butler. Ciel missed the days were Sebastian was colder, more ferocious under the guise of a butler. A true demon, not some servant who smiled and delighted in the burgeoning strength of his master.

But then again, with the contract broken, Sebastian wasn't truly bound to Ciel beyond the loophole in the contract.

_To stay with me until the ends of the earth….or until I die._

Ciel resolved to ask the Undertaker next time if there was a way to 'renew' the contract with Sebastian. After all, the Undertaker had ways of gathering information, right?

(A/N: Because of Ciel's loss of memory, let's go ahead and assume he forgot all of the shinigamis, or at least the memories connecting Sebastian to being that of a demon butler as portrayed in circumstances beyond the contract.)

Also, you all know the drill about italics being thoughts in the head, right? Now Review, or I make the next fanfic a death fanfic. Ciel or Sebastian, hmm?


End file.
